


Pen Pals

by DuchessKing2021



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Alpha Billy Hargrove, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Best Friends, Boyfriends, Boys In Love, Boys in Skirts, Bullying, California, F/F, F/M, Falling In Love, First Love, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Gay Billy Hargrove, Gay Steve Harrington, Idiots in Love, Long-Distance Friendship, Long-Distance Relationship, Love, M/M, Mates, Milkshakes, Multi, Omega Steve Harrington, Protective Billy Hargrove, Smart Billy Hargrove, Smart Steve Harrington, Smut, Soft Billy Hargrove, Soft Steve Harrington, Soulmates, Sweet, True Love, True Mates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-26
Updated: 2020-12-20
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:28:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,848
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26116477
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DuchessKing2021/pseuds/DuchessKing2021
Summary: Billy longed to find his missing piece, someone who would love him no matter what like his momma.Steve longed to have someone that was made just for him that wouldn't ever leave him.OrThe Childhood friends, Soulmate, Pen Pal, Young Love, Alpha Omega story we always wanted.
Relationships: Billy Hargrove & Maxine "Max" Mayfield, Billy Hargrove/Steve Harrington
Comments: 44
Kudos: 97





	1. Chapter 1

Steve slammed the door to his room to drown out the sound of his father's angry shouts behind him, his cheek still stinging from the slap he got not long ago, it slowly quieted as he heard his parents grab their bags and leave for their flight.

He sat on his bed surrounded by the posters and clutter. He was only 10 years old, it wasn’t fair, all the other kids' parents loved them and picked them up and helped them. Why was he different?

Steve rubbed his eyes and moved his hair out his face to look at his school bag that had a bunch of papers with failing grades spilling out of it from where it was trapped between books. There was one paper in particular that caught his eye. It was the paper that Carol got for him.

Taking off his shoes to hop off the bed and grab the paper, he looked closely at it, it said Pen Pals. Steve remembers Carol saying that even when she or Tommy are busy, he could find someone with pen pals and keep in constant with them so he wouldn’t feel alone. 

Sitting on his bed with the music coming from his cassette player, he got started on a note, this one was going to be sent to someone who was his age. The Pen Pal program was guaranteed to match you with someone who would be the missing piece you needed.

Steve wrote his name, his favorite color, favorite animal, favorite shape, and gender. The paper started to change a bunch of different colors, finally settling on a Brown to Beige to Blue Ombre that reminded Steve of those pictures of the beach, the really pretty ones he always wanted to go to. Then a name was written across it in gold lettering with black outline. 

“Billy..Hargrove?” The name sounded foreign, but right on his tongue.

But now he was at the same obstacle that he always met when he was writing, he couldn’t get his words to flow and match. What was that Miss Carey always said? To let it flow? 

Steve shrugged and took a deep breath, it couldn’t hurt to try, right?

Yes. Yes it could actually. ‘It took 3 hours to do this letter, this Billy kid better like it’ Steve thought as he licked the envelope seal. He was going to have Carol look through it, but some of these thoughts were private and he didn’t want anyone else seeing it except Billy. Steve put on a light jacket and went out to the mailbox after he made sure the address and name were right. He was so excited to finally have a friend, someone who was just for him. Like a _soulmate_!

**PenPalPenPalPenPalPenPalPenPalPenPalPenPalPenPalPenPalPenPalPenPalPenPalPenPal**

Billy woke up early one morning just as sad and upset as he’d been all month, his mom had left him and his dad alone, moreso him. He didn’t know what to do or how to deal with this, his back still hurt from the last time his dad had one of his episodes. Billy walked down the steps quietly and carefully to see if his dad was still asleep. 

He peeked his head around the corner to see him asleep and knew that he only had a little time to get everything together before his dad needed him again. He got an apple and an orange to eat quickly, when he finished, he went out to get the mail to see if his mom sent him anything, he wanted nothing more than for her to come back and get him. Being in the room with his Alpha father made him scared, even if he was an alpha as well.

Billy grabbed the letters and ran back into his room as swift as possible, the first few were bills, but there were two letters that had his name on it in severely different types of handwriting. 

He hummed and opened the feminine one first, when he unfolded the paper and read the top, he gasped happily, but froze when he heard a creak from his father's bed, holding his breath to make sure he didn’t wake up his father. When enough moments went past, he happily looked back down to his letter and only got happier with each word, his mom was coming back for him!

_ Dear Sunflower, _

_ I’m so sorry I didn’t take you with me when I left, I wanted to, with all my heart! However, your father stopped me and ran me out of the driveway until we reached the main road.  _

_ I know you and your father aren’t the closest, but if you really want to stay with him, I won’t force you to go, but if you do want to come with me, we’ll be leaving on the 4th of July so no one will notice us, but it won’t just be me, it’ll be me, you and my girlfriend and her daughter.  _

_ I really do want to keep you safe my little sunshine, but it’s completely up to you. Just come to the blue and yellow van with sunflowers painted on it if you decide to come, my blue camaro will be towed to the back of it and we’ll leave right away. We’ve already collected supplies and money and food.  _

_ Everything will be safe and ready when you come, we’ll be in the woods, go through Pop’s Diner and he’ll let you in through the back with two bags of food. _

_ I can’t wait to see you, baby, I’ll see you soon!  _

_ I love you! _

_ Love, Momma _

Billy’s jaw was dropped as he stared at the letter, his teardrops staining the bottom of it, he wiped his eyes and sniffled. His mom wanted him back! He was so happy! The fourth wasn’t for another 5 weeks which made sense since they needed enough to help them get by. He fell back happily on his bed and saw that there was more on the back, he flipped it to look closer, 

_ P.S. our van has a mailbox on it so you can tell your Pen Pal to mail it there instead so your father won’t see it.  _

_ The mail address will be 5924 Petal Rd.  _

_ Okay? I know your missing piece is going to come to you soon, don’t be dejected, they’ll come when you need it most. _

_ I love you, my little dove. _

Billy was confused at first, but it soon dawned on him that his mother had taken him out one day when he was 5 to make a Universal Pen Pal, his mom wanted him to have a better life by having his other half know he was out there. She feared Neil would keep it away from the boy just to make him miserable, so she took the necessary precautions to avoid that for her baby.

Billy couldn’t be happier, everything was finally going right for once!

He set the letter down to pick up the more scrawly one, he didn’t know anyone's handwriting like this. The ripping sound was the only thing in the room as he unsealed the envelope, the first two sentences made today the best day in the world. It was his Pen Pal! His other Half! Billy kept reading with deep focus.

_ Hi, _

_ My name is Steven Harrington, I used the Pen Pal thingy to find a Pen Pal? And your name came up. I wrote down that my favorite color is blue, my favorite animal is a deer and my favorite shape is a diamond. And I’m also a boy! But you probably knew that. But what you don’t know is that I’m an omega! _

_ Well, I think I’m supposed to tell you some stuff about myself, at least, that’s what Miss Carey said. She’s my teacher!  _

_ I live in Hawkins Indiana and I have two best friends named Carol and Tommy! Carol was the one that gave me the Pen Pal stuff! _

_ It’s really nice here, but it gets too cold sometimes and makes my hair weird, but when it’s too hot, my hair gets all slimy. What’s your hair like? Mine is curly and big and gets in my face. _

_ I like Ice cream a lot and I like burgers too! But I don’t like mustard, it tastes super gross.  _

_ Uhm, I don’t know what else to say.. _

_ Oh! I have pale skin and moles EVERYWHERE, my eyes are brown too and super big! I guess I'm kinda normal unlike other kids, but I like being normal!  _

_ I really hope you send a letter back, I feel happier already when I got to send this, the Pen Pal Stuff said it would show up at your address when you wake up so I hope you’re up by now!| _

_ I hope we can always be close forever, okay? _

_ Sincerely, Your Missing Piece _

Billy laughed quietly at the letter, at the scattered way the Steve boy kept talking, he was all over the place! Billy was the happiest he’d ever been, his mom was taking him back and getting him out and away from his dad. To top it all off, he finally found his other half and he was the sweetest guy ever.

Billy looked at the time, it was almost 6am and his dad still wasn’t up, he had work at 7. Billy put the letters down and stared at them closely, he should probably pack these away where no one could see them. Billy started packing his things away, he didn’t have much since his dad's last episode, but he had enough to pack away in his two duffel bags and a backpack. 

First He folded the letters and put them in his school binder so it didn’t seem suspicious, then he packed a few shirts and pants, just enough to leave one layer of clothes in the drawers, his dad would just assume he wore it all and needed to do laundry. 

He left the rest of it as is, he’d only pack away a few things at a time over the two months so his dad won’t know, until then, he’d be on his best behavior possible. 

Billy saw the clock say 6:20 and decided to go and wake his dad for work so he could write his letter. It was saturday so he would have a lot of chores to do to keep the house running. 

He sighed in disappointment, but remembered the contents of his letter. 2 weeks. He just had to wait 2 weeks and he’d be happy and free. 

2 weeks

**PenPalPenPalPenPalPenPalPenPalPenPalPenPalPenPalPenPalPenPalPenPalPenPalPenPal**

Steve woke up drowsy and alone, trudging himself out of bed to go find some cereal, not yet wanting to tackle his bed head until later when he remembered that now would be around the time he’d get a letter from his Pen Pal if they sent one back. 

Steve dropped his cereal bowl back onto the table and ran outside his shorts and shirts to step on the stool and get the mail. He pulled out one singular letter and squealed, it was Billy!

Steve hugged the letter to his chest and skipped inside, his inner omega was so pleased that he could scream, but he had to calm down to read the words right. Steve took a deep breath and grabbed a bag of chips, laying on the fuzzy rug in front of the couch.

_ Hi Steve, _

_ You already know my name, but I can at least tell you some of my favorite things too! My favorite animal is a tiger cause they’re strong and loud, My favorite color is blue too cause they’re like the beach and I really like stars cause they’re super bright. Plus I’m a boy as well! _

_ I think freckles are really cool, especially if you have lots! Then you’re like a constellation! You can be my constellation if you wanna?  _

_ My hair is really really curly and always gets fuzzy when it gets hot, I look like a poodle! I’ll show you a picture one day! _

_ I super duper like burgers too, especially double ones, but I don’t like ice cream, I like popsicles cause they’re super sweet and the dairy won’t make me get sick in the summer. _

_ This letter was the second best thing to happen to me today, my mom is gonna let me go with her on a super long road trip with her and her wife and her daughter. I’m super excited for you to meet her one day, she looks like me, but her hair is longer. _

_ Oh! By the way, don’t send to this address anymore, my dad is here and he’d take all your letters away and I'd never see you again. You have to send the letters to 5924 Petal Rd. okay? I won’t be able to answer for about two weeks, but I’;ll open them the second I can. I promise! _

_ My momma will keep your letters safe and she won’t go through them like ever ever, she’s super nice and even told me you would be sending a letter, said she had a feeling.  _

_ I’m going to love sending letters and pictures and gifts to you. If you couldn’t tell, I’m an alpha and I’ll keep you super safe all the time and give you whatever you want. _

_ I’ll see you face to face one day, Stevie, talk to you soon! _

_ Sincerely, Your Other Half _

Steve was so so so so so so happy, he finally had someone just for him and no one would ever take him away! It was a little saddening that he couldn’t talk to him for two weeks, but he was happy that it wouldn’t be too long. During that time, Steve would be sure to send a letter everyday, maybe some short ones with lots of pictures so he wouldn’t have to worry about writing so much. Speaking of pictures.

_ P.S. Here’s a picture of me so you can know what i look like, do you mind sending one back? I’ll be okay either way, okay, goodbye for real this time!  _

It was written on the back and inside the envelope there was a little picture of who he assumed was Billy. He was beautiful. He has super curly blonde hair that reminded him of noodles, the really good kind that had a glow about them under the kitchen lights and his eyes were the prettiest shades of blue that he’d ever seen, they looked like those marbles his mom had in the vase in the living room where when you looked at it from a different angle, it changed it’s shade. He had on a thin blue jacket and silver grey shorts, he looked comfy, but he was nervous when he saw a few bruises on his legs and ring of purple around his left eye. Speaking of, his skin was different from Steve too, the golden tan had a glow about it that you would probably never find in Hawkins, especially during the winter time. Maybe it was California, the commercials on TV always said it was a _paradise_ unlike anything else. Paradise huh? Billy was his own little slice of paradise.

Awesome!

He called over Tommy and Carol’s houses to call them over, Carol was bringing snacks and Tommy was getting some movies from his dad’s collection. He fixed his hair and clothes, they would be over in about 10 minutes, he wondered what Billy was doing right now.

**PenPalPenPalPenPalPenPalPenPalPenPalPenPalPenPalPenPalPenPalPenPalPenPalPenPal**

Billy had actually done it. He’d kept his dad happy all day and he was none the wiser. He was allowed to go out now, his friends from the pier were waiting for him at their usual spot, he was thinking about if he should tell them on the walk over. 

Don’t get him wrong, he loves his friends and trust they wouldn’t blab, but when it came to secrets, he was scared that their parents would grill them later after he left and get in trouble.

Billy shook his head and played with his drawstring bag, he was taken out of his thoughts when he heard a girlish scream, he rolled his eyes. It was probably Shelby and Twyla, they were always playing around. Antonio, Sebastian and Parker were probably inside the pier shed having their alone time, they were older than him and the girls, they’ve taken it upon themselves to protect the three kids when they saw some kids messing with them.

Billy walked down the pier and as expected, the twin girls were fighting. Again. Shelby was a blonde, her mom let her dye her tips purple and Twyla was also a blonde who dyed her tips blue. It was literally the only way to tell the two apart, they were identical twins that even sounded exactly the same, they tied their hair back when they wanted to confuse a guy to scam like their momma taught them to. 

“Hey Shells, aren’t you gonna mess up your new piercing if you keep playing around like that?” He called out from where he was walking, effectively stopping the fight between the girls as they both glared at him . Billy ran the rest of the way and gave them a hug, “Yeah yeah, I know, I didn’t check in, but for good reason! I have some big news!”

The twins looked at each other and then back at him, “Wait for the boys to come out.” they spoke and Billy shivered, he hated when they talked at the same time, that shit was creepy and they knew it too. He shook his head, “So where are the guys at anyway?” He looked around and didn’t see their bags, usually they left them out for the kids to know they were there. Shelby giggled and Twyla rolled her eyes with a deep sigh, pointing to the shed area, “They have something going on in there, said not to bother them and stay out of trouble, they should be back soon. Pretty sure I heard Parker moaning not long ago, they’ll be done soon. I hope.” She made a face, scrunching up her nose, Twyla was anti-men and discussing their sec life wasn’t any more pleasing.

Billy put down his bag and looked around. Don’t get into trouble huh? Who did they think he was? Billy ran to Shelby and tapped her shoulder, “You’re it _Shellsy_!” He shouted and ran, hearing the gawking sound and then the sound of footsteps running behind him, “Get back here _William_!” Twyla wasn’t far behind her, they always used tricks like this in games. 

**PenPalPenPalPenPalPenPalPenPalPenPalPenPalPenPalPenPalPenPalPenPalPenPalPenPal**

Steve, Tommy, and Carol were sitting on the couch with bags of cheese puffs, empty bowls of Mac and Cheese, and a few candy bags from halloween. They were watching Airplane and Steve took a few deep breaths before pausing the VR, getting the attention of the other two, “What’s the deal Stevie, it was just getting good!” Tommy complained, but Carol’s always been more per- pe- pecetive? Perceptive! Carol was more perceptive than Tommy. She shushed him and gave a reassuring smile to Steve so he could begin talking, Steve smiled back, still nervous, but glad she was helping Tommy shut up.

“O-okay guys, um, Carol, you remember when you gave me that Pen Pal thing right?” He asked and she nodded, but she still looked a little confused. Steve kept talking, “So I used it and I got a match, his name is Billy Hargrove, he’s our age and super nice!” Steve’s eyes started sparkling while he talked, but what he didn’t expect was for Tommy and Carol to look at one another and start laughing. Loudly. Steve tilted his head and curled in on himself, he didn’t know why they were laughing, but he felt like it was a bad thing. 

Carol eventually stopped laughing, Tommy having fallen to the floor holding his stomach. She took a breath before she spoke, “Steve, that Pen Pal stuff is fake! I told you that! The Pen Pal stuff doesn’t actually work, it just changes color and a random name is there. Me and Tommy did it and they just turned pink, all of the cards are like that!” She cackled and Steve didn’t know what he should say. His card didn’t turn pink so she had to be wrong. Billy was real and he was his.

Steve shook his head, “You’re wrong Care! Mine didn’t turn pink and Billy is real! When we’re older, I’ll get him to come to Hawkins! He’s real and he’s mine!” Steve finished with a huff, face red and angry. Carol and Tommy looked at each other and then back at him, shocked, Steve had never yelled at them before, he was always nice. 

Carol took a moment to try and speak, “S-Steve, we didn’t mean it, we’re sorry. It just - that’s how the cards were for us. The cards have always been fake, Stevie, please try to understand.” She tried to calm Steve down, but her words only made it worse. Steve stood up and ejected the tape, there was a tense silence as he shoved the tape in its case and threw it at Tommy. 

“Get out.” his voice was cold and devoid of emotion, making them both flinch, Tommy spoke this time, “Steve, c’mon, it was only a joke you’re being stupi-” He was cut off from a jab in the ribs from Carol who just shook her head at him. 

Steve picked up the bag of movies and threw that at Tommy as well, “I don’t care! I said GET _OUT_!” He was screaming at this point, throwing the candy bags at them as the other two started scrambling to grab their shoes and bags, the door slammed shut behind them.

Steve huffed from where he was and wiped his face from the tears that fell down his face. He thought that they cared, they were his best friends, how could they just lie to him like that! They knew that this Pen Pal thing is all he ever really wanted, but they just used it to make fun of him, they weren’t his real friends. He hated them!

Steve wiped his face and sniffed, cleaning up the mess. He needed to write a letter to Billy, he was the only other person who appreciated him and wanted him, Billy wouldn’t lie to him like Tommy and Carol.

He sat at the glass table with another bowl of Mac and Cheese, he had a paper and pencil, a camera and Billy’s picture. He was going to send Billy the best letter ever, even if he was having a bad day, Billy shouldn’t have one too! 

Steve paused, Billy wouldn’t be able to see his letters for another two weeks, he forgot. Shaking his head, he started writing anyway, Billy would want to know all about it the second he got away from his dad. 

**PenPalPenPalPenPalPenPalPenPalPenPalPenPalPenPalPenPalPenPalPenPalPenPalPenPal**

Billy, Shelby, and Twyla were joined by Antonio and Sebastian with a red and shaking Parker on Sebastian’s back. Him and Antonio were both still wearing their collars, but only Parker had on the leash. Billy looked at the leash with a sense of wonder, he’d want to get one just like that for Steve, if he wanted it though, but he couldn’t do that just yet, he’d wait for his last year of middleschool to send Steve stuff like that.

Antonio spoke first, “ _Helloooo_ my little bambino and bambinas, como estaasss?” His italian accent was prominent, he was a happy little omega that cared for the kids more than anything, he was that cared for them, a real mother hen when things got bad.

Sebastian pulled a few strands of hair from the front of Antonio’s curly ombre hair, he leaned down and whispered into his ear, “ _Behave_ , mon tresor, or I’ll take you back into that room.” Sebastian’s voice was like honey and Antonio whimpered, ducking his head in and nodding, Antonio did anything his Alpha asked if he talked like that, he was only a brat for show. The through and through brat was Parker, the second omega in their trio, he constantly tested Sebastian and knew what he was doing from the start.

Sebastian and Antonio separated, facing the children who looked none the wiser as they spoke to one another, it seemed like Billy was the most excited out of the three. He sat down in the lounge chair and opened a can of Sprite, passing an open Cola to Antonio and opening a Fanta to waft it under Parkers nose, the Russian omega was addicted to Sugar, but Fanta was on the top of the list. 

Big blue and green eyes opened and it took a split second to notice the can, he grabbed it and started chugging the can, the rest of the group rolling their eyes at the sugar addict. Billy got his own drink, a root beer and saw that the sun was about to set soon, it was about time for him to tell the group. 

He cleared his throat, “Hey guys, I’ve got some news, but you can’t tell anyone okay?” He grabbed the attention of the group, they all turned to him with serious eyes, they understood. Good. 

He took a deep breath, trying his best to not start blushing, “So the first news is that I found my Pen Pal he-” A squeal was heard from Antonio and Parker, they always knew Billy would end up with a boy, but a sly look on either side from Sebastian made them both snap their mouths shut so Billy could talk, Seb looked at Billy and nodded for him to continue, “O-okay, so I did the pen pal thing and this boy from Hawkins matched with me! His name is Steve and he has big curly hair and big brown eyes and a _ton_ of freckles!” Billy had this sparkle in his eyes that made the rest of the group give him a soft look.

They knew how broken up he was about his mother leaving and despite the guys telling him to report him, they knew that his father was hitting on him more than a normal parent would, the bruises weren’t hard to miss. This Steve boy would be good for him, at least they hoped.

Parker spoke next, “You sound excited about this Stevie boy, yeah, will we be seeing a picture sometime soon?” He was curious, wanting to know all about who would be getting with the youngest boy of their group, Parker was insanely protective of the child, seeing himself in him more than anyone else. Parker played with the silk strands of Sebastian’s ponytail, using his other hand to take another sip of his drink, the lack of answer from Billy was worrying.

“W-well that’s the other news, but this one is even more important, no one else can know, never ever ever, okay?” Billy quickly got nods from them all, he swallowed, “My mom sent me a letter too, she wants me back, but I have to leave Cali.” The group was taken by silence, but then they were sniffling, they knew he had to go, it was his one chance to get away from his dad without any mishaps. 

Twyla spoke softly, “Do you _really_ wanna go Bills?” She was most attached to Billy, even though she put up a rough front. Billy nodded and she could only smile. “Then we’re going too.”

They all whipped their heads to her, Shelby glared at her, “ _Come again_ my dear womb mate?” 

Twyla twirled her straw in her smoothie, “Yep, there’s no way we’re going to let Billy go alone and it’s not like there’s much for us here anyway!” She took a long sip and the rest sighed, although she may be the second youngest in the group, she was stubborn and persistent if nothing else and once she made her mind up on something, that was it. 

They then began to start making plans, Twyla and Shelby would talk with their mom, who loved her girls more than anything and didn’t mind going with whatever they chose. Sebastian was a self made businessman and could go where he pleased, Parker was an orphan, and Antionio’s family were the sweetest people on earth, they would let him go with whatever needed and whoever he wanted.

Billy gave them the dates and times, and they began to pack up for the trip, everything was going according to plan, Billy was going to write Steve the best letter ever when he got with his mom. 

He came home and his dad was already falling asleep in his chair, he cleaned up and put a blanket over him, he was a horrible father, husband and person, but he needed to play nice until the 4th of July.

He fell asleep with a smile on his face for the first time since his mom left.


	2. Not an idiot

It had already been the first week, he had written a letter everyday.

_ “..And I even got some new friends! Tommy had blabbed to the whole school, so now everyone makes fun of me and some random kid tried to hit me, but the super cool quiet girl punched him and knocked out his tooth! Her name is Robin and she’s super cool! She said that she believes me since she met her other half too! Her name is Heather! They said they couldn’t wait to meet you!” _

Steve paused and huffed, biting his lip, he didn’t know if it would be okay to ask Billy to come all the way to Hawkins, even if he is going on a road trip. Steve shook his head, him and Billy were made to be with each other, he was his best friend! He got back to the letter with enthusiasm.

_ “Speaking of, I wanted to ask if you could come to Hawkins during your road trip? We could keep writing all the time and send photos! Just think about it? Please? I promise I’ll bring tons of snacks and make you happy! And if you wanna, we could hug together and be happy too! I don’t have any siblings and I have a lotta rooms so if you come you could stay here with me! _

_ I can’t wait to see you, then I won’t be alone anymore! My mom and dad aren’t around anymore so I learn stuff from the telly and magazines, could you teach me all the stuff you learn when you travel? It’d be cool if we had our own language or something! We get to start middle school soon so it’ll make us super cool! _

_ I really hope we can meet soon! See you soon, Tiger! _

_ Sined, Constellation _

Steve smiled big and hugged the letter to his chest, he loved being called Constellation, he’d never had a real nickname except Stevie so he felt all special inside. Steve put the letter in the envelope and made sure to use the labels Heather made for him with her pretty pens. 

She wrote the address down a bunch of times in different colors and each one had little designs on it, this one had little butterflies and a flower! He hoped Billy liked flowers too, he’d ask him when he was with his mom again.

Steve jumped when Robin jumped on his couch from one side and Heather on the other. They complimented him and fixed his writing, Robin was really good at it and Heather showed him how to write pretty! Heather said it was a good trait for Omegas so Billy would really like it and that’s all Steve wanted, his parents didn’t want to deal with him so he didn’t really learn from anyone on how to be an omega. 

He put his letter in the mailbox and walked with his new group to go to the Byers house. Heather said that he could go with her for Omega lessons with Joyce Byers, she helped Heather when her parents were away and she always wanted a buddy since Robin couldn’t really learn from those kinds of classes.

Miss Joyce was super duper nice and helped Steve with learning stuff again when he forgot from school, she also made uniforms with him and Heather. They were allowed to go shopping and get the things they needed for omega school. Heather even got Robin to make one! Only she had shorts cause she said they made her feel comfy. 

Steve had a blue sailor set and a hat, he was proud of himself for tying the knot correctly after only two tries, he paired it up with a blue skirt with white lines. Robin had a matching one for shorts and Heather had one like Steve, but she had a white skirt.

It was later in the day now and Steve stayed behind to talk with Miss Byers privately. He tugged the back of her pants while looking down. Joyce was pouring a cup of tea when he tugged and simply set it down to crouch to the boys level. He was Jonathan's age and slightly shy, less than Jonathan and much less than a little 6 year old will, but still shy nonetheless.

She had heard the rumors going around town so she knew what this was probably going to be about, Joyce patted a hand on his askew sailor hat, “What is it, dear? Is something the matter?” She spoke soft as to not startle him, he looked ready to book it if the air shifted the wrong way.

Steve bit his lip before he spoke, “W-well I was gonna send Bi- SOMEONE i- uh, someone, a nice gift and wanted to give them a sailor suit like me? And their family?” Joyce repressed a coo, Steven Harrington was the cutest thing when he wasn’t around those troublemakers Tommy and Carol. She held back a laugh and grasped his face in her hands to give him fishlips, she looked him in his big brown eyes and nodded, “Of course we can sweetie, do you mind if Jonathan and Will help?” She wanted to ask because it was going to be a lot of work, but she would also like it if Steve and Jonathan became friends.

Steve’s eyes sparkled and he nodded wildly, the more help he could get on this project, the better, Billy was worth it.

Joyce made Steve, Jonathan and Will something to drink, they spoke about when and how they wanted it done together. Steve felt happy, he had his slice of paradise and was going to make him happy no matter what. 

PenPalPenPalPenPalPenPalPenPalPenPalPenPalPenPalPenPalPenPalPenPalPenPalPenPal

Billy was laying on his bed to go over his checklist, he wanted to be sure he didn’t forget anything. He looked at the date I was the 27th, only 7 more days left and he’d be free, his dad had been on edge slightly, but overall he told Billy how proud of him he was for becoming a man, which would’ve been nice if he wasn’t insulting his mom at the same time. Bill just smiled and agreed with it all, apologizing to his mom a million times in his head.

It was the end of the day now and Billy stayed home while his dad went out to drink with his friends, one of them had gotten a promotion. So far, Billy had packed up all of his books and pencils and trinkets, this made his room look void of emotion and creativity, but still had his clothes and posters in it so you’d only really see a difference if you looked hard enough. Billy had also picked 7 outfits for the week and put the rest in the luggage bag, He only wore one pair of white shoes and a pair of sandals for when it was hot.

He was doubly excited because his friends were going to be coming too, the girls mom was an easy going lady who devoted her life to her daughters and hated Neil with a burning passion so she loved the idea. As for the boys, they were getting funds and supplies from Antonio’s family and had their own van packed up enough for all of them, they’d be riding behind them, but would wait at the exit point so no one would realize it until it was too late.

Billy felt a tug on his heart and furrowed his brows, it felt like something was wrong, but not with him. He thought long and hard about what it could be when he remembered what his momma told when he was about 8, he was curious about what his missing piece would be like so he always had questions.

_ Billy was sitting beside his mom, bundled in a big blue towel as they watched the sun set, today was their day out away from his dad. Billy finished his burger and looked up at his momma as she smiled at the sunset and stars.  _

_ “Momma, how ill I know I have a soulmate if I can’t feel them?” He was extremely curious. _

_ His mom smiled and tucked a curl behind his ear, “Well, baby, sometimes, if your soulmate is feeling really really good or really really bad, you can feel it right here,” She pressed a hand against this little heartbeat and he smiled big and wide. _

_ “So if they feel bad, I can make them feel all better? All by myself?” Billy wanted to be the best mate he could possibly be, nothing like his dad and all like his mom.  _

_ His mother hummed and thought about it. “Well, other than your letters, you could always write on your skin with a sharpie or send them happy thoughts and feelings!” She ended with a clasp of her hands and laughed _

_ Billy was laughing, but still in awe, he could make his soulmate feel better without any help! _

Billy snapped back to reality and weighed his options. Sharpie was out of the question, his dad would notice, the happy thoughts seemed better than the feelings since he didn’t want his star feeling lonely if he was happy so he tried his best to focus really hard and think to him.

Billy felt a zing of electricity and was confident that this was Steve

_ ‘Um, h-hello?’  _ Billy slapped a palm to his forehead, how does one stutter in their own head? Whatever, he was just nervous, he’ll do better.

He took a deep breath and tried again,  _ ‘Hello? Is anyone there?’  _ Perfect. No stuttering.

But there was no answer. Billy waited for about 5 minutes before he debated going to sleep. Then he heard it.

**_‘Hello? Who’s there?’_ ** Billy was in awe, that must be Steve’s voice, he sounded so pretty, he should tell him that.

_ ‘Hi, I’m Billy Hargrove what’s your name?’  _ Another score for no stuttering, Billy liked this a lot.

**_‘ U-Um, my name is Steve, Steve Harrington..I-um, a-are you m-my soulm-mate?’_ ** The question was like a murmur in his head, but he heard it which must mean that Steve’s shy. That was okay, Billy would make him feel better in no time! That’s what Alpha’s are for!

_ ‘Yeah! We’re soulmates and penpals!’ Billy tried to sound as happy as possible, but he was beginning to get sleepy.  _

**_‘R-really? That’s so cool, I knew that Carol and Tommy were lying’_ ** The voice sounded confident and reassured, but Billy was confused

_ ‘Who are Tommy and Carol, Stevie?’  _ The nickname slipped accidentally and was about to take it back when what sounded like bells rang through his head.

He looked around for the source when it clicked, that was Steve’s laughter and it was super duper pretty.

**_‘Tommy and Carol used to be my best friends, but when I told them about you, they made fun of me so I made them leave, but U have some new friends now!’_ ** He sounded so excited and happy. Billy was so happy for him, the throbbing pain that was in his chest was gone now, meaning Steve was happy again.

_ ‘I’m super happy for you star! I’m actually getting kinda sleepy, but I want to hear you talk, do you mind? _

In his room, Steve was shocked, the speaking through minds was baffling enough, but having someone knowingly want to hear him speak is new, his parents never wanted to listen to him and he was always cut off by Tommy or Carol so he was ecstatic, but hesitant

Steve took a moment, holding his stuffed animal from Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, Clarice, she was the prettiest one on the show and he wanted to be just like her. Steve squeezed her tight to his face and responded.

**_‘Are you sure? I don’t wanna to bore you to death,Tiger..’_ **

__ Steve bit his lip waiting for a response, playing with the flap of Clarice’s ears, then he heard this light laughing sound, even if it was directed meanly at him, Steve was enamoured. The sound of Billy’s laugh made him feel light and fuzzy, he could listen to it forever.

_ ‘You could never ever ever bore me Bambi, I like your voice a lot and since i’m your alpha, I get to listen to your voice all the time! That makes me super lucky!’ _

__ Steve was blushing and happy in the darkness of his room, Billy liked  _ him. _ He liked his  _ voice. His  _ alpha liked  _ him _ and his  _ voice _ . Steve was so happy he had an alpha like Bill.

**_‘I feel the same way! You make me feel all soft and fuzzy, it’s really really nice. S-should I start talking now? I know you said you were sleepy an- um..’_ **

Steve subconsciously started to shut himself up, he had a limit to speak when he was with anyone until it got annoying, but Steve always tried to stop it before that happened.

_ ‘Only if you wanna, I don’t mind, I just like knowing you’re here with me, sorta’  _ Billy laughed again, but this time Steve laughed with him. Neither of them said it, but they really liked the sound of their laughs together.

After they finished laughing, they eased into their beds and Steve talked and thought about everything he could, sending Billy into a soft state of slumber and eventually Steve followed fuzzy all over again.

_ ‘ Goodnight, Constellation’ _

**_‘ Goodnight, Tiger’_ **

Both boys slept soundly, the sound of the others snores gave them both a sense of comfort that close behind. 

Steve did hear one thing through all his talking that made him and his omega preen and feel they didn’t know they needed.

  
  
  
  


Neither were aware of the third party listening in on their conversation. The woman smiled and set down her cup of tea, taking off the headphones to hear more clearly, “Everything is going perfect.” She smiled up at the resident main doctor, Dr. Martin Brenner, “They’re more advanced than any other set of soulmates, should we bring them in now?” She asked excitedly. 

Martin shook his head, “Not yet, we’ll only monitor them from afar until they meet.” He received a nod in return and looked proudly at the small brunette girl on the other side of the glass, “I have a feeling they will exceed our expectations far beyond what we can comprehend. Send Jane to bed to rest, there is much work to be done.” He spoke and ordered, each doctor knowing their role left to do so, leaving Martin in the room alone as he picked up the chart with messy scrawl expected from a 6 year old. 

He had told Jane to write down the names that came to when someone used their pen pal cards, but the recent paid was such an exceptional match, they could forget the other studies.

“Well, William Hargrove and Steven Harrington, I hope you can impress us more tomorrow.” Martin set down the chart to go do his checkup with Jane, the sound of a closing metal door is all that’s left in his presence. 

No one noticed that the names on the paper glowed a deep violet and it, along with the information and recordings, vanished.

In her room, Jane inconspicuously wipes her nose with a tissue when the lady wasn’t looking, putting it in the trash can with all the others so it wouldn’t look suspicious. 

She was 6 years old. Not an idiot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope y'all like it! Please comment, subscribe and leave Kudos, all re greatly ppreciated!
> 
> Love y'all!


	3. Family and Cars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Y'all may hate me for taking so long
> 
> But Y'all may hate me eve more for publishing this chapter
> 
> Read at your own risk🤗

It had been a long anxious-filled week full of packing, planning, and talking to his star, but it was _finally here_. 

The fourth of July and his ticket away from his father.

All of his friends, and the twins mom, had rented their RV. They had told the dealer that they were going on a road trip so if anyone did happen to pull them over, then they’d have a through and through excuse.

Billy was brushing his hair and talking to Steve while he brushed his, he put down his brush into the bag and zipped it, it was his personal bag that would be upfront with him and Max in the RV.

He sat on his bed and stared at the sun setting on the shore, that was another thing he was sorta excited about, meeting Susan and Maxine. Mom wasn’t able to send him any pictures, but she gave a small description of how they looked, it was enough for him since she was so great with words.

His thoughts were cut as his dad came barging through the door, he looked frustrated, but otherwise calm. It wasn’t easy getting him this way and there were a few drawbacks, but all in all, he did good.

His father looked around the room suspiciously as he noticed the lack of sprawled out toys and such that used to cover the house top to bottom, the air in the room became tense when he stared Billy in the eye.

“Going somewhere, boy?” He growled

Billy gulped and subconsciously scooted back, he could hear Steve asking what was wrong in his head, but knew he couldn’t respond at the moment. His head was thrown to the side as he held his face, the heat coming off of it was painful all on its own, but the icy-hot glare coming from his father was worse.

“I asked you a question you little faggot, are you going somewhere?” His father was probably going to start yelling if he didn’t answer. The one thing Sergeant Hargrove hated most was not being given a straight and quick answer.

“N-Nowhere sir! I promise, I-I just- “ He was stuttering over his words in fear, his voice mixing with Steve’s and his moms, but they all said the same thing,  _ ‘It’s okay, take a deep breath, be calm. You’re almost home and free. Just hang on a little longer.’ _

Billy did as such, sucking in a breath as his dad asked him questions, making an effort to answer each one calmly, carefully and most importantly, respectably.

“What’s this bag for you little shit?” Neil grunted, shaking the bag that was by his desk

“Nothing sir. Just supplies for when we’re at the fireworks.” Good. One down and however many it took to go.

“What the hell do you need at a damn firework show huh?” Damn, what did you really need for a show? OH!

“I had snacks and water and a brush so I won’t embarrass you in front of your friends sir. By looking bad. Sir..” Billy had trailed off in the end, getting less confident with each words as the silence trailed on after.

He saw his father's hand go up and flinched, closing his eyes, waiting for the hit to come. Instead he felt a soft hand patting his head and took the chance to look up from behind his dad's hand, his eyes were..soft. 

“Attaboy, Billy, now you’re thinking like a real man, not one of those little pansies your whore of a mother tried to turn you into with all that soulmate bullshit.” His voice was bitter near the end, but his hands never stopped their motion of patting.

It was safe to say Billy was shocked, only saying, “Thank you, sir.” By autopilot. His dad grabbed his shoulder and gave him a soft shake, “You’re a damn fine son, boy, keep it up.” And then walked away with a smile, he even chuckled a bit under his breath.

Billy had felt the tears reach his palm before registering that any had fallen at all. It was almost like having his real dad back, the one he used to have before things got bad, the one who loved him all the time and not just when he was in pain.

Billy shook his head and wiped his face. It didn’t matter, after this he’d be free of his dad altogether and he’d never have to pretend again. He shoved his remaining stuff in his bag, hearing his down yell from downstairs, “Let’s go, William, the show’ll be starting soon!” He still sounded happy, so it took him a moment to realize that it was in fact his dad speaking to him. 

Billy threw his bags out the window and into the front lawn behind the bushes. He asked his mom to drive around so he could grab it quick and they could finally leave. Naturally, she said yes so he made sure to give himself an area that he could grab it quickly.

He slipped on his small bag and did one final sweep of his room. Everything he needed was packed away and the room looked generally bare, like no one was ever here, just what he needed.

He turned off the light and shut his door, hopping down the stairs, “I’m coming, sir!” He shouted, running out the door.

But in his head, all he heard was,  _ “I’m coming, home mama.” _ and  _ “I’m coming to you soon, Stevie.” _

Billy sat in his father's truck , giddy, the man was none the wiser of what was happening, thinking that he was just excited for the fireworks. Hey shared a smile for completely different reasons, his dad patted a hand on his shoulder and kept one wrapped around him as he drove. 

Billy smiled as he looked at the field of multiple families.

_ ‘I’ll be free.’ _

Steve was sitting in his room brushing his hair when he felt the tightness in his chest, somewhat similar to the king he had a few days ago, but this one felt more like fear. He kept sending messages to Billy in his head, hoping that he was okay. 

He got a small,  _ “I’m okay, can’t talk now” _ and had a feeling it had to do with his dad. He and Billy started talking about their parents yesterday, Steve talked about how his parents didn’t like him because he was an omega and they stopped coming home anymore. Billy talked about his abusive dad, that he hit him a lot, making him do stuff and then getting upset because he did it right. They both agree that their fathers were shitt and they were excited to see Billy with his moms and baby sister.

Steve trusted Billy and waited patiently for him to message him again. Well, sort of patiently, he busied himself with making a sandwich and chips , vacuumed, swept, and tried to focus on the show until he finally got a message 

_ “I’ll be free.”  _ Steve sighed in relief, thank god, he was okay. That relief then turned into frustration, 

“YOU COULD’VE SAID SOMETHING YOU BIG BRUTE!” He shouted into the emptiness of his living room, hoping his thoughts portrayed the same loudness. He shook his head and watched the show more calmly, eating his food slower and generally relaxing his whole body again.

He had just finished the last bite of his sandwich when the doorbell rang, his eyes widened as he looked at the time, he had forgotten that Miss Joyce had invited him to go with her and some other kids to watch the fireworks on the hill.

Steve rushed to open the door, only slipping a bit on his socks and knocking into the door, he heard Joyce gasp a bit behind the door, “Steve? A-Are you alright?” She spoke what she hoped to be loud enough for the boy to hear, she’s pretty sure that sound was his head and was about to knock again when the door flew open and there stood a smiling Steve, she breathed a sigh of relief. 

“Sorry Miss Byers! I slipped!” He had hopped away from the door, slipping on his shoes and jacket at the same time, or at least she thinks that’s what he’s doing. 

Joyce giggled a bit behind her hand and set her bag down to walk in the room to stop Steve, “Here, let me help you, dear.” She spoke soft to big brown eyes that looked at her in awe.

She guided his arms through the arms of the jacket and helped slip his shoes on, tying them securely. She finished by zipping the jacket up and securing the beanie he had on his head, a small frown gracing her features. 

It was no unknown rumor that the Harrington's didn’t take care of their son and were gone more often than not, she would bet money that Steve had never been taken care of like this, at least not from a real mother or mother figure.

She held his small face in her hands and smiled, kissing his forehead, laughing at the tiny gasp that he let out. “Come on, Stevie, let’s go see some fireworks!” She tickled him and relished the laugh he let out, the boy was so recluse that she doesn’t think she would have ever heard it if he and the girls had never become friends.

She took Steve’s hand in hers, walking out the door with both of their bags in one hand and into the car where Jonathan, Will, Heather, Robin, and Tina sat. Tina was a new addition just like Steve, she had been one of the few girls in school that believed in the soulmate stuff too and didn’t like the way everyone was talking about Steve whether he was in the room or not.

Steve sat beside Jonathan in the back two seats, all the girls were sitting in the back, talking about stuff Steve didn’t even want to know about right now. Will was in the front, so very tiny with his big eyes, waving at Steve with a big smile, his hand was sort of drowning in fabric under a dark green sweater that swallowed his tiny body.

Steve waved back just as happy and buckled himself up as they drove off toward the park.

Joyce looked around at all the kids in her car and smiled, she loved happy kids, she loved making kids happy. All these kids came for some troubled reason, but when they were with her, they were happy. 

She smiled and drove toward the park. She’d go back to jail if anyone tried to hurt these kids, in a heartbeat.

Billy had been sitting with his dad for about an hour now, all of his buddies were surrounding them, so it was boring.

Billy sighed in his chair, trying to inconspicuously look around as much as possible for the car. The fireworks were about to start so the crowd was getting settled. He drank some juice without making eye contact as much as possible. 

Billy made a mental checklist and was going over it as much as possible, he’d hate to leave anything here that could give his dad a clue as to where he was. He had just finished it for the fifth time when he heard a honk, there was nothing special about it, but it drew his attention any way, he turned to look and felt his eyes water.

Yellow and Blue? Check.

Sunflowers? Check.

Mailbox? Check.

It was the van.

It was his ticket out of here.

It was his  _ freedom _ . 

Billy looked closer to see a woman with bright blonde curls and another woman and child with wavy red hair waving at him with smiles on their faces.

**_It was his mom and his new family._ **

Billy wiped his eyes and turned back around, as he heard the fireworks start up all around, leaving a blanket of darkness over the cars and helped with Billy’s escape. 

He felt it all happen in slow motion, this was the round off for the fireworks and in doing so caused lots of sound as well as catching people's attention more than ever. His dad was one of those people.

Billy made the motion to stand up, catching his dad's attention, to which he held up the can of juice he’d been nursing all night. After a beat, he received a nod and his dad turned away again, so Billy saw this as his one and only chance. 

It felt like everything happened in slow motion, he slipped his bag on slowly carefully as he walked, something that wouldn’t seem too suspicious since his dad taught him to keep his bag on him at all times.

He made his way to the trashcan when he felt it, his dad's eyes on him, daring him to make the next move.

And Billy?   
  


Billy was a daredevil if nothing else.

He took a deep breath.

And ran.

“WHERE THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOUR GOIN’ BOY! GET BACK HERE!”

He made it to the hill going down to the parking lot when he heard his father's voice coming closer to him, Billy wanted to look back like he saw in movies, but he also knew that looking back was a setup in life to get caught so he raced forward toward the open van door, his moms new girlfriend calling out to him in open arms, “COME ON BABY, COME ON!” 

Billy rolled down the hill and was almost there when he tripped over the curb when standing up again and instinctively looked back, only to see a raging black figure that looked even more menacing under the glow of red fireworks. Billy pulled himself back up and grabbed his bag, bolting to the van in front of him and jumping into the red haired lady’s arms.

The woman caught him and slammed the door shut, “Diane! DRIVE!” The woman screeched and Billy whipped his head around to see his momma slam on the pedal and maneuver out of the parking lot without looking back for even a second. His momma used to race so it wasn’t too surprising, but he never got to see and  _ feel _ it cause his dad said it wasn’t proper for a woman.

Billy saw the lights move from the windows and at the last second rushed up to the window and threw the can back as hard as he could, but kept it in his hand, only letting the juice out, hitting his dad in the face with the sticky and sugary orange liquid.

Billy cackled loud and free, identical to his mom’s laugh from up front. Billy waited until they pulled up to his house and the three of them quickly loaded his bags back up before rushing to the state line where his friends were waiting for him. 

They whooped as they pulled up and climbed into their respective vehicles, his mom sent a look to the boys that he didn’t understand, but they just smiled back at her and started their car. 

  
  


They had pulled off and after an hour of anxiety and cautiousness, Billy let himself relax and sent a message to Steve in his head,  _ I’m free, Stevie!”  _ That was all he had energy for before he slumped on the couch beside the woman who helped him.

He stuck his hand out, “Hi, I’m Billy, are you my mommas girlfriend?”

His question was innocent, but it caused Susan to go red and stammer something fierce which didn’t go unheard by his mom who snorted from the front seat, “Yeah, baby, that’s momma’s girlfriend. Be nice to her and little Maxy, yeah?” She gave him a wink in the rearview mirror, to which he smiled in return. He turned to see the woman guiding a little sleepy red headed girl to her lap and smiled.

Yeah, he could do that.

“Yes momma!” 

  
  
  


Steve had been watching the fireworks with the rest of the kids on the top of Miss Byers van when he heard it ring through his head, 

_ “I’m free, Stevie!” _

Steve gasped loud, cutting over the illusion of fireworks and everything else as he clambered down to meet Miss Byers at the front of the car where she was talking with Tina’s mom.

“Miss Byers! Miss Byers! Miss Byers!” Steve chanted with every step he took toward her, running full speed.

Joyce whipped around to Steve’s voice and was about to greet him when she saw a car coming down the street behind Steve at the same time. Her eyes widened and she felt like she was moving in slow motion as she rushed to grab Steve’s small body, dropping her hot chocolate and pounding against the cold wind on her face. 

“STEVE LOOK OUT!”

**_“C R A S H!”_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eh heheh 
> 
> So I'm not dead!
> 
> Ha ha
> 
> .. ..   
> .   
> . .   
> . 
> 
> I'M SORRY Y'ALL!!!!
> 
> Between home life, mental issues, sudden situations, and school, I've been swamped, but I finally managed to finish this chapter for you guys! I hope you liked it!
> 
> Comments, Kudos, and Subscriptions are always welcomed here!
> 
> Love y'all


	4. Chapter 4

You know those moments where it feels like your flashes before your eyes? Where everything slows to a frozen frame, eyes wide, mouth open, the lights coming toward you at full speed?

Yeah?

Well Steve didn’t really get that experience.

Let’s rewind, shall we?

_ Joyce whipped around to Steve’s voice and was about to greet him when she saw a car coming down the street behind Steve at the same time. Her eyes widened and she felt like she was moving in slow motion as she rushed to grab Steve’s small body, dropping her hot chocolate and pounding against the cold wind on her face.  _

_ “STEVE LOOK OUT!” _

**_“C R A S H!”_ **

All caught up? Now let’s see what happened for real.

Joyce had never moved faster than she did in that moment to shield Steve’s body, but it was no luck because she wasn’t able to reach him on time, the car hit him.

But it also didn’t. 

It was like seeing those weird slo-mo videos Jonathan was obsessed with, where the car would flip and you saw every detail on it before it hit the ground again. Except Joyce knew what a car looked like when it hit someone head on and everyone else had a general idea in mind on what it  _ would _ look like, but this car was completely clean.

The car didn’t hit Steve, but rather this forcefield around him, it was purple and milky in color, but kept his small body protected from where he sat on the gravel, unharmed, but confused like the rest of the population that saw the entirety of the scene.

Maybe the reason it felt like time was frozen was because it quite literally was, in a way. Steve’s shield kept him frozen and protected, but the car uptop was just stuck in mid-air with no explanation. 

Then it all suddenly came crashing down. Hard.

The car rolled and crashed into nothing except the road itself, the only thing coming from it was a small body, smaller than Steve’s, with curly hair. From what Joyce could tell by the dress, it was a little girl.

The car stopped sooner than later into a lamppost and quite suddenly caught fire, no build up or smoke, just pure fire.

Joyce looked in between the two small figures and the inner mom in her came out immediately, She got to Steve first because he was closer, when she stepped through the shield, it dissipated like fireflies into the crowd and everyone else turned back to normal. 

She picked a shell shocked Steve into her arms, asking him if he was okay, she wanted to ask if he understood what just happened, but knowing he was just a little kid stopped her, knowing he must be petrified right now.

She placed Steve into the van with the other kids who immediately crowded him, asking if he was okay and such. “Give him some space, you guys, don’t crowd him, I’ll be right back. Jonathan? Robin? You’re in charge.” She spoke quickly and charged across the parking lot where a crowd of men and women were circling the scene and the little girl, too scared to move her or take any action to get her away from the fire other than staring.

Joyce rolled her eyes, this town was full of bystanders, people that wouldn’t take action until someone else did. A bunch of followers if nothing else. 

  
She pushed through bodies to get to the child’s body. She had on a pink dress that looked scuffed up and dirty with small smudges of dirt and blood all over it. She also had two trails of blood coming from her nose, but other than that, she seemed fine.

Joyce ran a hand through her curly hair and she slowly came to, big brown eyes boring into Joyce’s with a sense of knowing that almost scared her. She picked up the girl and took her away from the scene, not sparing a glance to anyone along the way, they couldn’t be bothered to help the girl so she didn’t want to hear what they had to say. 

Joyce made it to the van and sat the little girl into the spot beside Steve where the girl immediately laid her head on Steve’s shoulder, shocking him to the point where he flinched, but let her stay there, awkwardly patting her on the head and looking to Joyce for feedback to make sure he wasn’t doing anything wrong.

She just smiled and nodded her head at him, mouthing the words  _ ‘you’re doing fine’ _ and checked on all the other kids as well to make sure they were okay, then she left them in the van to go find Hopper or Flo, she didn’t quite trust those new deputies yet, fresh out of their teen years and extremely...scattered.

Joyce tugged her coat closer into herself to retain some warmth when she found Hop in a big burly evergreen coat and a cigarette giving away his location. Flo was right beside him with a cigarette that looked halfway gone, stress etched into her features, but smiled when she caught sight of Joyce, small and subtle, but still there.

“Hiya Joyce, what brings you?” Flo was the first to speak because of where she was sitting, Jim’s back was to her and you could hear him choke when Flo said her name, a flush going up his neck as he struggled to get his breath together.

Flo and Joyce cackled at him in the meantime, it felt nice to get a good laugh in, but she came here for serious business. She slowly stopped laughing and was happy for the warmth it brought, she knew Jim liked her and she liked him, but she needed to wait until they were both comfortable and she was already comin with a ton of kids. Plus he still had his daughter from another marriage that didn’t last long, little Sarah Hopper, still a little tot. 

Anyways

“Back to business, I-” Joyce started

“ That’s never a good sign..” Jim mumbled, interrupting and still embarrassed over his chokin fiasco

Joyce gave him a small glare and continued, “as I was saying, there was a bad crash a little while ago and there’s this little girl that came out of it fine, but the other guys...not so much and I need some help figuring out where she can go, I can take her, but I just need the okay.”

Jim and Flo shared a look and nodded, Flo spoke first, “Could you take us to her?” Joyce nodded and they started the trek back, ignoring the worried looks from other moms like Karen Wheeler and Dahlia Hagan. Bitches. Their sons were just as bad despite their age differences.

The trio made their way to the van full of kids, Joyce took a second look, there were more kids than what she left 5 minutes ago. However, she did recognize that these were neighborhood kids that Will plays with in the park sometimes. She knew them all by name, Lucas Sinclair, Mike Wheeler, Dustin Henderson and Mikes older sister Nancy Wheeler, she was the same age as Steve and both of the Wheeler children were just as intrusive as their mother.

Joyce sighed and shook her head shooing the kids away from the little girl sleeping on Steve’s shoulder, giving a more firm look when the girl made a defiant pout and was trying to stay where she was until she eventually got up from out the band to make room for Hopper and Flo to wake her up and talk to her. No one mentioned the relieved look on Steve and Will’s face when the questions finally stopped.

Jim didn’t know why, maybe because of the other little girl in his life, still in the hospital, but he stepped forward first with a small soft voice that they’ve never heard before.    
  
“Hey, sweetheart, you alright?” The girl was still half asleep on Steve, who was too scared to move an inch, having been in trouble with Hopper a few times when he used to hang out with Tommy and Carol.

“...safe?” and  _ god _ did it break all of the adults hearts to know that was the main thing she worried about. Meaning that wherever she was, she wasn’t safe before. 

Hopper was so shell-shocked by the quiet 4-letter word that he just sat there gaping on one knee, Flo and Joyce shared a look before Joyce came beside Hop in a small bend, hand on her knees, “Yeah, sweetie, you’re safe now. Can you tell us where you were?”

Joyce spoke through a small flurry of movements like brushing off dirt and squeezing Steve’s shoulder that only continued as the little girl whispered back short words. She had a feeling that neither of them really had much contact and what they did wasn’t good.

“...lab...papa...hurt….” she blinked drowsily before leaning her full weight on Steve, “....tired…” and with that, she fell asleep. The tension that they didn’t know she was holding, released in a breath.

Joyce nodded with a smile and stood fully to address Steve, “So Stevie, how’re you-oh” Joyce paused her voice and movements. She wouldn’t dare to break the look of absolute love and  _ caring  _ on Steve’s face. In his  _ eyes. _

  
  


Steve felt like he was in a trance.

It wasn’t a secret that he was lonely, no parents, no siblings, and barely any friends  _ ‘but he was working on that, thank you very much’ _ but he’d never had someone be so…..

_ Close.  _

Steve wanted to have this feeling all the time, to take care of someone, have them rely on him, look up to him. To..to..to..

To love someone...to have them love him back…

To love  _ Billy _ and have  _ Billy _ love him back.

Steve wanted Billy.

_ Now. _

The click of a flash broke him out of his thoughts, he blinked quickly and owlish, turning to look at Joyce with a pout that got deeper at the giggles he made no effort to hide.

Steve looked around at the other adults as they threw around words like,  _ home _ and  _ safe _ and  _ stable _ and a bunch of other stuff Steve didn’t really understand.

A loud firework popped off out of no where and caught his attention. It was a blue and purple one in the shape of a heart.

_ Billy… _

He stared at the spot even after the firework had already fizzled out.

  
  
  


Billy was a little worried, he had expected a word back from Steve by now. They were already out of Cali and were just traveling as much as they could to put some distance, which wouldn’t matter since Neil couldn’t get him back legally.

His momma had thought ahead and filed legal divorce, separation, restraining, and sole custody papers which meant that Neil couldn’t even be in the same  _ state _ as them without going to jail.

Well going to jail longer than he already will. His mom had also sent the court video, photographic, and written statements as evidence of Neil’s abuse. It also helped that Susan was a lawyer and in charge of child cases in which she showed her colleagues  _ and _ got it passed. The second Neil pulled into his home, he’d be arrested.

Billy sighed in happiness that was only partly felt, Steve still hadn’t check i-

**_‘Billy! Are you okay? You’ll never guess what just happened! So I heard you and I went to tell Miss Joyce and-”_ **

Billy let his body relax as Steve told him everything he could, for once, not stopping himself. Billy isn’t stupid, he knows that Steve was stopping himself on purpose before and made it his mission to not let him feel that way for as long as he possibly could.

**_‘..And now we’re driving to Miss Joyce’s house, but not with Nancy or Mike or the other kids cause they’re rude and super noisy, they almost woke her up and she hasn’t told us her name, but she seemed comfy near me! I-....’_ **

Billy perked an ear up at the sudden silence, he thought Steve wasn’t gonna stop himself this time.

_ ‘ _ _ What’s the matter, Bambi? Everything alright?’ _

It took a minute before he got an answer.

**_‘I miss you Tiger…’_ ** Billy could literally feel the sadness seeped into the words.

_ ‘I know you do, but we’ll be together soon, okay? And we’ll be together soon, plus they made mobile phones so we can talk anywhere we want. Okay, Bambi? Don’t cry, I’m coming straight to you. I’ll even get a job in every state we go to to buy you something pretty so you can show it off to all those other dumb people in Hawkins. Okay baby?’ _

Billy blushed and ducked his head, looking around. He knew they couldn’t hear his thoughts, but he always had this... _ feeling _ that his parents could always know what he’s doing no matter what.

It's not like he’s never called Steve nicknames before, but  _ baby?  _ They’ve never been that bold, their nicknames have always been spurred on and memory filled. 

Billy blamed it on his inner alpha, it was practically  _ howling _ at him to give Steve...well...whatever he wanted honestly. 

He blushed even deeper when he heard the light fairy giggle that made him fall for Steve when all of this started. 

**_‘Baby huh? I like it, Tiger.”_ **

_ ‘Shut up, Stevie, you’re just jealous that I called you it first’ _ Billy struggled to hold his ground through the blush that was so bright, he looked like those old women in the mall.

**_‘Suuuure I am Bills, you can call me that if you really wanna_ ** **_Babe._ ** **_’_ ** Billy thinks he choked on spit if his momma’s worried glance is anything to go by. He simply shook his head and sipped his juice, he was getting tired, Maxine  **“** **_Call me Max!”_ ** was already asleep in her pink and purple blanket. His mom was catching a small nap until they could reach a safe pitstop for all of them, knowing that it would be soon since there were teen drivers that already didn’t sleep well. 

They would also need to find hotel rooms with more than one available room for the hyper sexual teenage boys in the other car.

Not that Billy knew too much of that information.

Billy and Steve stayed talking throughout the night until they eventually dozed off together, Billy didn’t forget about the hesitation, but he’d give Steve time to address it when he was ready.

As he closed his eyes after saying goodnight to Steve and his mom as she switched shifts with Susan, he didn’t think he could be happier.

  
  


During all this happening during the wonderful Fourth of July, no one thought twice to the smell of fire. Between the crash in Hawkins park and the usual smoke and light from fireworks?

No one thought twice about the unusual bright light coming from Hawkins Lab or the mass amount of smoke and fire pouring from it. And in all different directions were 7other children all headed to the people they picked off of a list of individuals who were being targeted by the lab.

Only the children made it out, no adults.

Every scientist burned to the ground with the lab as well as the experiments.

But there was no way to get rid of the secrets or the files which were safely hidden underground.

  
  
  
  


There was also no way to unsend the letters and emails sent to the Russians.

**Author's Note:**

> Comment, Subscribe and give Kudos at your leisure, love y'all!


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